Dental instrument



Dec. 7, 1954 R. J. LINDGREN 2,696,048

[NW/W0 Ro J A Mae/Pm. BY

United StatesPatent U DENTAL INSTRUMENT Roy J. Lindgren, Marshall, Minn.

Application January 5, 1952, Serial No. 265,097

2 Claims. (Cl. 32-51) This invention relates to dental instruments and more particularly to that type of dental instrument capable of carrying amalgam to a filling and for plugging the filling subsequently thereto.

Certain dental instruments in the past have been devised for the purpose of carrying gold foil to a dental patients mouth for the purpose of effecting a gold filling which instruments then may be used to assist in the plugging operation by utilization of the combined points of the foil carrier. Other devices have been proposed in which arcuate ends of the legs of an amalgam carrier are adapted to hold amalgam and a third leg operating laterally to the direction of the operation of the first legs has a projection at the end thereof to eject the amalgam from the carrier into the prepared cavity. The first of these devices is objectionable for amalgam use in that the cooperating points of the carrier, which are suitable only for carrying gold foil, are not large enough to carry amalgam, and at the same time the ends of the bifurcated foil carrier are not suitable for initiating the plugging operation since the face thereof does not have the proper area. Furthermore, the adaptability of the instrument is limited in that the single pointed head of the foil carrier can accomplish but one phase of the plugging operation, the initial plugging requiring a comparatively broad area to tamp the amalgam loosely in place with an excess of material and the remainder of the plugging operation requiring plugger heads shaped and sized so as to furnish high pressure for compacting the amalgam. One measure of the permanency of the filling is its degree of compacting.

The second class of the above mentioned instruments has been found lacking in versatility since the amalgam oftentimes sets within the instrument thereby requiring drilling or chiseling to restore the instrument to operability. As in the other case, such instruments can be used in only one phase of the plugging operation and is not adapted to be used throughout the operation to compact and finish the amalgam filling.

It is therefore a principle object of this invention to provide an instrument which will serve in the filling of dental cavities of the lower jaw with amalgam, as a carrier of the amalgam, as an initial plugger therefor, and

as a complete finishing plugger so that the dentist may conclude the entire filling operation upon a tooth without changing instruments. This consequently will save time and will aid in the economical organization of the 'dentists offices since fewer instruments need be purchased, sterilized and handled.

A further object of the invention is to provide an amalgam carrier which has a split plugger head capable of carrying amalgam to the cavity to be filled and imme- 1 diately thereafter movable to a cooperative closed position whereby the end faces thereof may be employed for the initial tamping or plugging of a cavity; the instrument being further adapted for use in continuing the plugging operation regardless of the size or disposition of the cavity and, finally, the finishing thereof, all with a single handed operation employing the same instrument.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an amalgam carrier with a variety of plugger heads disposed in such a manner as to be convenient for the dentists use and still to be arranged in such angular relationship with one another as to avoid interference with the proper action of the plugger head being used by the plugger heads not then being used.

These and other objects and advantages of my inyen- 2 tion will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred embodiment of my dental instrument;

2 is a top elevation'of the instrument shown in 1g.

Fig. 3 is a reverse side elevation of the dental instru ment shown in Fig. .1;

Fig. 4 is another embodiment of my invention shown in side elevation;

Fig. 5 is a bottom elevation of the instrument shown in Fig. 4; i

Fig. 6 is a reverse side elevation of shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a segmental view of the preferred form of my invention showing the plugger head being used for carrying amalgam, the fingers of the dentist being shown while grasping the instrument; and

Fig. 8 is a frontelevation of the instrument shown in Fig. l with the bifurcated plugger head closed for use as an initial amalgam plugger.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, my dental instrument comprises a bifurcated body element indicated generally at 10 which has a common rear portion 11 and normally separated legs 12 and 13. Each leg narrows towards its forward outer extremity in a curved neck 14 and 15 each of which in turn terminates in a partial plugger head 16 and 17. Preferably the partial plugger heads are in the form of a solid half-round cylinder having end faces 18 and 19 which are adapted to cooperate so as to form a complete plugger head having an effec tively continuous circular face as shown in Fig. 8 when the instrument has its bifurcated legs manually urged together. The inside opposing faces 20 and 21 are also adapted to cooperate in a tweezer fashion so as to be capable of picking up plugs of amalgam as shown at 22 in Fig. 7. When the amalgam has been released from between the partial plugger heads they may be further pressed together with the inner opposed faces 20 and 21 being in engagement and faces 18 and 19 of the partial plugger heads forming a continuous plane which may be serrated or ribbed so as to facilitate in the tamping and plugging of an amalgam filling.

My invention further contemplates the use of additional plugger heads integrally associated with one end or the other of my instrument so as to make it capable of use as the sole carrying and plugging instrument in an amalgam filling operation. In arranging the required additional integral plugger heads I prefer to have three finishing pluggers in addition to the bifurcated initial plugger head formed by the cooperation of the partial heads at the ends of the bifurcated legs. Two such integrally formed plugger heads or even one may be usefully employed where the size is smaller than that of the initial bifurcated tamping or plugging head and where the shape is also preferably varied. Thus in the preferred embodiment I have integrally formed at the neck portion 14 of the leg 12 a plugger element 23 which extends forwardly of the body of the instrument as shown in Fig. 1 and outwardly from the center line 24 as shown in Fig. 2. The integrally formed plugger 23 becomes more flat towards its outer portion and terminates in an elongated end face 25, the lengthwise direction of which face lies generally in the same direction as the longitudinal center line 24 of the entire instrument. The area of the elongated end face 25 of the integral plugger 23 is preferably smaller than the tamping face 18-19 of the bifurcated plugger head 1617.

the instrument In the same manner integrally attached plugger head in the disposition of their respective faces and 27 so as to make for convenience in the natural manipulation of the instrument by the dentist when plugging cavities with amalgam fillings which require use of a plugger head with an elongated face and which cavities may be dis posed at various angles within the patients mouth. A still further integral plugger 28 may be formed at the other end of the instrument so as to terminate in an end face 29 having an area smaller than that of the bifurcated initial plugger face 18-19 at the other end of the instrument. I prefer to form the plugger 28 With a small round face 29 which likewise may be ribbed or serrated and which, together with the other plugger heads, gives a complete flexibility in the filling with amalgam of a tooth cavity. The outer sides of the legs 12 and 13 may be ribbed as at 30 in Fig. l to aid in the gripping and holding of the dental instrument. I prefer to have the top edges 31 and 32 form a plane at right angles to the sides faces as at 30 and likewise prefer to have the bottom edges as at 33 form a plane parallel to the top plane. Thus the instrument may be manipulated and held as in Fig. 7 in any one of four positions about the longitudinal center line 24. The dentist may also turn the entire instrument in his hand with the plugger head 28 extending forwardly of his hand in operative position. The instrument then also may be rotated in four different positions about the longitudinal center line 24.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4 the integrally formed plugger heads are all attached to the rear or common portion 11 of the bifurcated body 10. In this case the bifurcated plugger head 16-17, together with the general body construction, remains similar to that of the preferred embodiment but no other integrally formed plugger heads are attached to the fore of the instrument. At the rear end 11 the plugger 35 is disposed in an upward, backward and outward fashion from the longitudinal center line 24 and has an elongated face 36 which is disposed with respect to the center line 24 of the instrument in the same manner as the face 27 of the plugger 26 in the preferred embodiment, namely, so as to lie laterally of the center line. Similar to the plugger 23 of the preferred form is the plugger 37 which eX- tends upward, outward and backward from the central longitudinal line 24 of the body 10. This plugger 37 likewise extends angularly away from the plugger 35 in a manner similar to the angular relationship between the pluggers 23 and 26 of the preferred embodiment. The plugger 37 terminates in an elongated face 38 having an area preferably smaller than that of the bifurcated plugger face 1819 and disposed in the same general lengthwise direction as the longitudinal center line 24; The third plugger attached to the end 11 of the instrument may be a smaller round finishing plugger 39 similar to the plugger 28 in the preferred embodiment. This plugger 39 may be disposed in the same plane as the longitudinal center line 24 but having its small round plugger face 40 disposed in angular relation therewith to avoid interference with faces 36 and 38.

In the use of the dental instrument comprising my invention the dentist grips the bifurcated legs at some convenient position such as on the ribbed area 30 and may hold the instrument in such a manner as is natural to him. The dental cavity in the patients lower jaw has been previously prepared and drilled for the filling and thef amalgam has likewise been prepared and divided into pieces of proper size for carrying to the cavity. The dentist then urges the spring pressed legs of the instrument together to pick up a piece of amalgam 22 as shown in Fig. 7. After bringing the amalgam to the proper position he drops it into the prepared cavity of the patients tooth. Immediately after releasing the amalgam, the instrument is further compressed so as to bring the faces 21 and 22 into engagement and the bifurcated face 13-19 is then employed for the initial plugging and tamping of the amalgam. In no event is this operation to be continued past the initial stage with the comparatively broad plugger face 18-19, since the proper pressure and angulation cannot thereby be attained. In other words, the initial action is merely to introduce the amalgam into the cavity and to give it the initial tamping action to prevent it from falling away from the cavity. Immediately following the initial tamping or plugging the dentist selects a smaller plugger head, the face of which is disposed at a convenient angle for him to continue the plugging operation. The amalgam at this point is compressed by a series of pressing movements on relatively small areas and in different directions so as to cause the amalgam to be tightly wedged against the inner surface of the prepared cavity. Since the lasting properties of an amalgam filling are largely dependent upon the care with which the amalgam has been plugged Within the cavity, it is extremely important that the dentist be able to apply high pressures upon small areas and at various angles to the cavity.

It may thus be seen that I have invented and developed a dental instrument forcarrying and plugging amalgam fillings for cavitites in the lower teeth which has a versatility such that the single instrument may be employed for the entire filling operation beginning with the carrying of amalgam and concluding with the final plugging thereof. The many trips conventionally required to be made from the patients chair to the sterilizer or instrument drawer has been reduced by using my instrument to but a few, thus speeding up and making more efficient the handling of amalgam fillings in the teeth of the lower aw.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts Without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A dental instrument for carrying amalgam and for plugging an amalgam filling comprising, a bifurcated body having legs normally separated at each side of the longitudinal center line thereof, manually compressible against spring tension to urge said legs toward each other, a first half-round partial plugger head having a semicircular end face with a substantially plane and lateral amalgam carrying face and being mounted adjacent the end of the first of said legs, a second half-round partial plugger head having a semicircular end face with a substantially plane and lateral cooperating amalgam carrying face and being mounted adjacent the end of the second of said legs, said first and second half-round partial plugger heads being adapted to closely cooperate when said legs are manually urged together to form a first round compelte plugger head with said end faces presenting a substantially continuous surface, and a second complete plugger head attached to said body with its forward face disposed angularly to the longitudinal center line of said body and adjacent one end thereof whereby said dental instrument may be manipulated by a single-handed operation to accomplish carrying of amalgam, placement of the amalgam. gnitial plugging of the filling and the final plugging of said lling.

2. A dental instrument for carrying amalgam and for plugging an amalgam filling comprising, a bifurcated body having legs normally separated at each side of the longitudinal center line thereof, manually compressible against spring tension to urge said legs toward each other, a first partial plugger head having an end face and a laterally disposed side face, and mounted adjacent the end of the first of said legs, a second partial plugger head having an end face and a laterally disposed side face, mounted adjacent the end of the second of said legs, said first and second partial plugger heads being adapted to move laterally toward one another when the legs are manually converged to form a first complete plugger head with said end faces presenting a substantially continuous surface, and the said faces cooperating in clamping engagement for carrying amalgam, and a second complete plugger head attached to said body having a forward face disposed angularly to the longitudinal center line of said body and adjacent one end thereof whereby said dental instrument may be manipulated by a single-handed operation to accomplish carrying of amalgam, placement of the amalgam, initial plugging of the filling and the final plugging of said filling References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 99,050 Battle Jan. 25, l870 321,814 Hoodet al July 7, 1885 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 930,293 France Aug. 4, 1947 

